In 2008, photographer Corey Hayes went to New York Comic-Con, and instantly became hooked on cosplay. Not on the outfits, per se, but on the people inside them. He went on to launch a photography project called AlterEgo, where he takes photos of cosplayers before and after they’ve got their costumes on.

(Top image is Diana Lin)

Al Vasquez

The Flickr blog has just done a great interview with Hayes, accompanied by some of his best shots. There are some cool stories there, including that of Ruby Rinekso, who was so dedicated to his cosplay of the 1960s Adam West Batman that to get the cowl just right “He tracked down the original cowl creator for the 1960s TV show, had him cast one off of the original mold of Adam West’s head, and that is the one he uses.”